


It'll Last Longer

by fintasticampora



Series: Photography Jack [2]
Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Flash Fic, M/M, Photography, except its actually a 7+1
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-07
Updated: 2017-06-07
Packaged: 2018-11-10 05:23:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11120787
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fintasticampora/pseuds/fintasticampora
Summary: Seven times Jack wanted to use his camera and the one time he realized he didn't have to.





	It'll Last Longer

**Author's Note:**

> A flash fic I did a while back that I've been meaning to post! It's a 7+1 where each scene is around 100 words and you have to make a story using eight scenes. I'll probably expand on this at a later time, but for now enjoy this to hold you over until [Marry Me?](https://archiveofourown.org/works/10800177) updates!

To Jack Zimmermann, Eric Bittle is a dream. His soft blonde hair shines like a halo wherever he walks, his soft freckles and pink cheeks makes him an angel that has blessed this Earth. Jack always wonders if Bitty knows this.  
When they’re walking through the streets of Providence, Bitty is smiling as they cross over a bridge in their park, the birds tweeting and the leaves crunching beneath their feet. Jack notices Bitty and feels the urge to capture this image and frame it in time. His fingers itch at the camera that usually dangles from his neck, but tonight is left sitting on the nightstand due to the impromptu walk.

_X_

Jack leaves his camera in his locker stall at his arena. It typically wouldn’t be this tragic, but now he’s watching Bitty do all these amazing spins and turns on the ice, watching as his skate carves large loops into the surface. Again, he feels the sensation to take a picture of Bitty’s perfect salchows and all the ways his skate has drawn into the ice. But for now, he’s captured just by how beautiful the man looks.

_X_

As soon as he hears the camera tumble to the ground, he knows it's broken. It’s almost as if he could feel each part breaking like a bone in his body. He instantly drops to his knees in an attempt to pick up the mess, but knows it's futile. The damage has been done. Beside him, Bitty drops down and picks up the broken device with a quiet murmur of “sweetheart,” all drawn out with his Southern lilt.  
He had almost gotten the perfect shot.

_X_

 

With the camera thrown away, he can feel the loss significantly more. Now it's not as if he could run home and get it because he has nothing at all. He managed to recover the photos inside, but now he has no way to capture more. He can’t help but feel as if this is what an artist feels like without a paintbrush. There’s nothing to fill the empty space in his hands, and there’s nothing he can do except enjoy the moments as they pass. Still, he feels at a loss. A chunk of his life which isn’t photographed. A chunk of their life. A chunk of Bitty’s.

_X_

He could easily go and get another a camera and he knows this. Jack is well aware that it would be simple to just waltz into a store and purchase another camera. But now he feels like he is at a loss of free time. Summer is over and the NHL hockey season is beginning. The gruelling practices has taken its toll and he can’t help but feel like he’s lost now in his rookie year without something ground him. The camera is gone, Bitty is gone, so all he can do is focus everything he can on hockey.  
_X_

“Okay, you’re turn,” Bitty said, passing Jack a colorfully wrapped box adorned with a shiny bow and the neat scrawl of Jack’s name on the tag. Jack smiles, taking the gift.  
“Alright, but you know you didn’t have to,” Jack replied, his fingers already pulling to open the box, but his eyes fixed on Bitty’s.  
“Oh, hush,” Bitty says passively, “you know full well that I did. It’s Christmas, Jack.”  
Jack smiled, looking down at the tissue paper that covered the inside. He peeled it away, and his eyes blew wide.  
“Surprise,” Bitty said with a laugh. Jack turned back at him, his jaw slack in shock.  
Inside laid a camera just like his old one.

_X_

Jack managed to use up an entire memory card worth of pictures in one week. It was Jack’s bye week, which meant a week without the hockey team needing his attention. He traveled down to Bitty’s university and spent an entire week with him. The memory card was absolutely filled with pictures of the time he spent with Bitty. So many pictures had featured Bitty that at one point, Bitty had asked Jack to put the camera down because he hasn’t seen his face all night.

_X_

Jack stood next to Bitty, both leaning against the bridge at the local park. They watched as the barren trees strained under the weight of fallen snow. The sight was absolutely beautiful. But he felt no itch, no impulse to grab for his camera. Instead, he stood and he watched. He enjoyed this moment with Bitty. He felt a nudge at his side, pulling him out of his daze the beautiful sight before him gave. He turned to face Bitty who was wearing a bright smile.  
“Take a picture,” Bitty said, “it’ll last longer.”  
Jack laughed, but the camera remained around his neck and out of his hands.

**Author's Note:**

> If you'd like to talk about zimbits or hockey, message me at [my tumblr](hey-senpai-did-you-notice-i.tumblr.com)


End file.
